Did you know that even a little red meat causes diabetes? Or that if you swap that meat for some nuts and whole grains, you can slash your disease risk?
Yeah that was news to me, too.
And speaking of meat, it’s a bunch of boloney.
Study Links Meat to Diabetes
Because if you think the researchers came to this conclusion after conducting an honest-to-goodness clinical trial, you can think again. They did no such thing.
In fact, the “new” study is nothing more than a math project — and certainly nothing you should be basing your health decisions on.
The researchers crunched numbers from hundreds of thousands of people who answered survey questions as parts of other studies.
Quick, how much red meat did you eat last week? Last month? Last year? What kind? How was it prepared? Now break it down by day for me.
It’s ridiculous, but that’s how these surveys work. And in this case, the survey says… just three measly ounces of red meat a day will boost your type 2 diabetes risk by 12 percent, while even smaller amounts of processed meats — two slices of bacon, for example — will cause your risk to shoot up by 32 percent.
But why do they have to hide behind surveys?
If they really think they can prove a link between red meat and diabetes, there’s an easy way to do it — and I can design the study right now: Put a group of prediabetics onto a strict low-carb diet rich in red meat.
Ask a second group to make no changes. And if you want a real laugh, put a third group on the American Diabetes Association’s carb-heavy, low-fat diet.
Track them for a few years and see who makes out better. I can guarantee you right now that the red meat eaters will have the slimmest waists, the healthiest hearts, and the lowest rate of diabetes of anyone in the study.
Of course, that takes work — more work than researchers are willing to commit to.
By the way, this study was published online last month — but it won’t be in the print issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition until October, when it will no doubt generate a second wave of headlines.
The casual observer might be excused for thinking, “Wow — ANOTHER study linking red meat to diabetes? There must be something to this!”
Don’t be fooled. It’s not a new study. Just the same old re-recycled trash.
William Campbell Douglass I.I., M.D. has been called "the conscience of modern medicine."
You can sign up for his "Daily Dose" at DouglassReport.com.
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